by Lisa | Feb 17, 2015 | Intuition, Self Care and Personal Development, Tarot Readings
Here’s the thing, we have already covered how our inner and outer worlds are so damn noisy now-a-days that we can no longer access our inner voice easily making decisions even harder and more stressful to make, so what would be the benefit of learning to read tarot cards for yourself, rather than hire a professional reader?
- You can do readings for yourself any old time you like. Imagine when you are ruminating over a big decision in your life, and you have been thinking about it for awhile, and people keep telling you to listen to your gut, but anytime you try to do that all you hear are “crickets”, right? I have been there, and still go there on a regular basis! Well, instead of paying for a session from a pro, like myself, there might be times when you just want a quick answer, or a nudge from your intuitive self right then and there. Being able to interpret the cards for yourself affords you the convenience of having your own personal guru at your fingertips. But, Lisa, you say, aren’t you just talking yourself out of a job? Ahhh… not really. There will always be times when even a professional reader might consult a more seasoned tarot reader for a fresh eyeball on their spread. And given that it takes years to really get savvy at reading the cards, it is likely that people will always hire readers for the big questions in life. Then there are those folks that have no interest in learning to read the cards and would just like to have a reader do it for them. So, no, I’m not worried about that!
- Fine tuning your own intuitive powers. After learning to use a tool like the tarot, or iChing, or tea leaves, or whatever tool floats your boat, your intuitive muscles get much stronger. It’s actually pretty amazing when this starts to happen. Suddenly when you have that hunch or gut feeling, you stop dead in your tracks and tend to trust it more. This is key, trusting your inner voice is truly even more important than not being able to hear it more often. What good is hearing it if you are going to ignore it anyway? I have done this myself. A couple of years ago I thought I wanted to be a life coach. The work suited my personality and I love helping people, plus I have an utter fascination with human nature, and how the human mind works. I registered for course after course only to have this weird physical sensation literally in the center of my gut every time I uttered the words “Life Coach”. It was the most uncomfortable roller coaster I have been on in a looooong time. I registered and canceled several life coach programs, and my poor husband was ready to tear his hair out with my back and forth endless ruminations. I just could not trust that literal gut feeling whenever I said those two words. ANYway, I finally had to acquiesce and drop all ideas of becoming a life coach. And you know what? The feeling stopped. The anxiety stopped. And this was my first real step in recent years of honouring that inner wisdom. Not long after that, I touched my toe in the waters of becoming a professional tarot reader, and low and behold this seemed to effortlessly unfold in front of me. Though it required work, lots of work initially especially, what I mean by “effortless” is that I felt very little inner or outer resistance to moving down this path. Now that I have a more disciplined practice of reading tarot for myself, I am finding I don’t need to consult them as often. How cool is that?
- Less stress more ease in your daily life. Once you start a practice that exercises your intuitive muscles and you start to trust your inner voice again, suddenly life does not seem that overwhelming. That being said, tarot is not a religion nor is it specifically a spiritual practice for most people, so it can fit beautifully alongside any other spiritual practice or beliefs you have in your life. Yes, even some christians use tarot cards! GASP! I use them as a PSYCHOLOGICAL tool solely for accessing my subconscious/intuitive mind to uncover my hidden motivations and deep desires I would like as an outcome. You know how you can flip a coin when making a decision? Well, I do this with people sometimes, you flip the coin and it lands and you cover it with your hand. Before you reveal which side if up you say, “Now, which side do you REALLY want to be showing?” And it is amazing that 9 out of 10 people will have an answer! See? They knew their choice all along, they just wanted validation! Tarot cards are very much like that. You already know the answer, and the cards will just validate what you already know. So, if you can have this portable guru, as I said before, at your fingertips, only to get more and more useful with practice, and along with other practices you have in your personal, professional and spiritual life, this will greatly help to alleviate stress in your day to day life and work.
Plus it’s super cool, I’m not gonna even remotely lie about that.
Learning to read tarot cards is not for everybody, but if you have always had a fascination with them, and even dabbled in reading them but never quite felt like you were using them to their true potential, I invite you to join us for the fifth round of my five week online beginning tarot course Dabbler to Diva! Doors are still open but close on September 26th and It will fill up fast so don’t wait!
You can read all about what’s inside and register right here!
by Lisa | Jan 27, 2015 | Self Care and Personal Development
There are times as a mom when I go to bed feeling…. well, like crap. I know many of you can relate to this moment. These are after those days of short fuses, frustrated abruptness, and just too much stormy energy all around me and my girls.
It sucks.
These are the moments that nobody really warns you about. Well, actually, they do, but until you have your own kids you can’t really understand how heavy duty and heartbreaking this feeling is. It’s when you are overwhelmed or too busy. Or maybe you are stressed about money. Or maybe you are frayed to your very last nerve ending. Whatever it is, in the moment, it happens. You react. You get triggered.
You go unconscious. And it’s like mothering in the dark.
I don’t have to tell you what this does to kids. I have had to apologize a few too many times to them for a bad day. And had to try to explain that it’s not them, it’s me. And hopefully those times won’t mean TOO MANY trips to a psychologist’s couch.
But what does it mean to “go unconscious”?
Our subconscious mind, as we have discussed a few times before here on this blog, is a massive powerhouse of memory storage. This thing is a MAMMOTH. And scientists don’t even completely understand how it works. But one thing they do understand is that every single memory that is stored in your subconscious, has the ability to steer your emotional reactions to situations that are happening in the present, even if this particular memory has nothing to do with the present moment.
Are you with me here?
How scary is this! So, this means that if your teenager is being all “teenager-ey” and you are finding that you are going from zero to rage in about 30 seconds, yet your partner is not phased at all by this typical behaviour, this is a clue that your subconscious has been triggered and you are now reacting to the situation instead of responding.
See the difference? Reacting vs. Responding. Calm vs. Flipping out.
I’ll give you an example…when my oldest daughter was little, and she would play with her friends, sometimes as happens with little kids, she was left out and devastated. I felt such profound sadness, and even anger about this, it just seemed to devastate me for her. But the feeling was much deeper than that. It really broke my heart. Of course I would have been sad anyway for her, but this felt like an overreaction on my part. And it meant that I was not being strong for her in the moment and able to help her weather these times when they happened (which was not a lot, but still…) I tended to come at a place of feeling sorry for her too hard. You know what I’m saying? But why did I react this way?
Once I did a bit of digging I recalled an extremely painful thing that happened to me when I was eight and a friend from school invited me to her birthday party. They were picking me up from my house and we were going to go bowling or something. I had her present wrapped, and I even put on a pretty scarf around my neck because I was so excited to be going to her party. I waited on the doorstep for them.
And they never came.
No phone call from the parents. Nothing. No apology. No, OOPS something came up. A no-show. Needless to say I was devastated and thinking about it now I still have lingering feelings about it, darn it! Anyway, my mom called some family friends of ours and they swooped in and took me somewhere fun instead. (Thanks, Ang!) But I’ll never forget that feeling of being completely rejected. Forgotten. Worthless. I asked this person when we were in highschool what happened that day. She didn’t really have an answer. She did have her party, and she had no real explanation as to what happened. The parents probably just forgot, and if they knew would probably feel terrible about it. At least, this is what I like to think.
So, knowing this now, I can remind myself when my second daughter who is in grade two is having moments like this, though rare, happen because they just do. Now that I have excavated this painful subconscious memory and shed light on it, it no longer wields power over my parenting in this area. And what a relief!!
You will know when a similar thing like this happens to you when you find that you have overreacted completely to a situation. And as you get more and more aware of this process, you will be able to recognize it sooner and sooner until sometimes you will say in the moment, “Oh my god, this is triggering me somehow.” And you will immediately diffuse the power that your emotions are having over you.
So, how do you do this? Well, you can do a number of things to become an emotional archeologist. You can go to therapy, which I highly recommend, especially if your overreactions are causing serious emotional or physical damage to your kids or loved ones. Or you can use a tool to help pry open that strongbox of a mind where those deeply shoved memories lie. The thing is, many of our subconscious memories are attached to emotion. This is why our conscious mind has a hard time accessing them. And the emotions that are attached to that memory are kind of frozen in time. This explains why in a given moment in any situation, if we are feeling emotions that are completely overblown or not relative to what is actually happening, the reason is because this is a powerful emotional memory that is not mature, and not framed in the present context of the situation. The feelings may be similar, but not relative to what is actually happening in the present moment -hence why you get triggered.
Alrighty, now we are getting to the fun part. And when I say “fun” I mean fascinating, not as in WEEEEEE!!! Let’s dive into our painful past!! :0)
Guess what tool I am going to suggest to help you to uncover some stuff; shed light on it; and then help heal it so it no longer affects your parenting. Thaaaat’s right… THE TAROT. You can use various tools to do this, not just tarot, obviously, but I have created a spread to help you to do this. And you can do it anytime you feel that you are going down the rabbit hole. And you will. More than once.
Becoming Conscious Parent is one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids, and yourself. Being conscious means you are actually fully present in the moment, fully focused on what is actually happening in the now. Your reactions are balanced, and even, and you are not over-feeling your emotions for your children, you are able to be a sounding board; a warm embrace; a counsellor; a cheerleader; a rock. I know that you have had many interactions with your kids that are just like this, more than the other I suspect, so you know exactly how this feels. Some of my most joyous feelings are when I can be full present and my children feel truly heard and that their experiences are their own, and that they can truly feel that I am holding space for them.
Holding space. You can only do that by being fully present. You and your kids deserve this!
I created The Conscious Parent Spread just for this purpose, and it helps to uncover 
underlying issues from your own childhood that you may not even be aware are affecting your parenting from time to time. And even if you never have felt reactive or unconscious (lucky you!) this exercise is good for everybody! You do it for you and one child at a time. There is one card that represents you and a second one that represents the energy of your child. Then it goes on to discovering the specific challenge you have in parenting this child; what you are bringing from your own childhood into this relationship; what block does this create or what needs to be healed; and how can I best support him or her. I recommend giving yourself a bit of time to do this, and to write down your results. And as always, if you do your spread and are not 100% sure how to interpret what you see, you can always shoot me an email for my input, I am here to support you! And, as always, you can request a reading from me for exactly this topic, if you are not comfortable doing a spread for yourself.
You can download and print The Conscious Parent Spread right here, and I know that, at the very least, you will learn something about yourself through this process. And what you will learn will only stand to deepen and strengthen your relationship with your kids, and maybe even your parents as well.
Now go. Be well.
P.S. If you find the topic of our subconscious mind and the role it plays in our lives (which is HUGE) fascinating, Marie Forleo had a great video where she interviewed Dr. Cathy Colautt Pd.D. on how to get your subconscious mind onboard to work for you instead of against you. HOLLAH!
by Lisa | Jan 5, 2015 | Self Care and Personal Development
I’m always looking for new and improved ways to do soul work. You know, the kind that feels just DEEP and yummy, and EFFORTLESS. Not easy to find, though. So, when I come across something that fills the criteria, I get very excited.
While noodling around on Facebook, I discovered totally by accident a super cool way to let your soul speak to you in a way that you can really listen. Oh tarot does that too, for sure, but this just feels different somehow. And it involves no thinking at all, so it’s right up my alley.
It is called SoulCollage®. Basically you grab a bunch of magazines, brochures, etc. and flip through them ripping and cutting out images that you like. That’s it. No thinking allowed! I know it’s hard, right? You also need some kind of card type material to use for making your Soul Collage card, I went to our local craft mega store and picked up some gorgeous black card stock that was quite heavy – 110 lb 8×11 and cut those exactly in half. Ideally you want your cards to be the exact same size (mine are 5 x 7) because you want to end up eventually with a DECK that you can do actually READINGS with.
I’m telling you, this is extreme coolness times a million.
Anywho, once you have a bunch of images cut out and your blank card in front of you, you just start selecting images and moving them around on the card and arranging them until you like what you see. Once you are satisfied you then glue it down and this is your very first Soul Card! Here’s mine:
Now, the key here is as you are making the card, you may have no idea what it is trying to tell you. But once it is finished you gaze at it and just let it speak to you. Mine is not really the happy-go-lucky card I was hoping it would be for a first one, but what it is telling me is that I feel like there is a lot of “noise” around me disturbing my contented and happy centre. What I want is peaceful contentment (those two words are even on my vision board from over a year ago!) I want to feel that everyday, but there is just so much noise.
But what is really neat is that the more you work with your cards, the more they will tell you. And, like reading tarot cards, you try not to think too much with your analytical brain.
SoulCollage® also have four “suits” like tarot, but the suits themselves are not anything like the four suits in a tarot deck. For example one suit represents Community, as in the people in your life that you love, admire or respect. Another is Committee, as in your inner voices (oy vey!) good AND bad. There is also a Companions suit which has 7 cards in it, each representing a chakra and its accompanying animal. It is also about the energetic dimensions in ones life. SERIOUSLY love that one. And finally there is the Council Suit, which are the spirit guides and archetypes that guide you in your life everyday past, present and future. Some shamanic themes, which I find also very exciting.
I am just learning about SoulCollage®, but immediately knew I had to share it with you because I think that it could be a great addition to any kind of personal and spiritual work, and you know I am all about growing and all that crap. :0)
You can learn more about SoulCollage® from the official website here, and my go-to website for all things SoulCollage® is the amazing KaleidoSoul. Check her out!
Have a wonderful and awesome-saucy day!
by Lisa | Dec 16, 2014 | Self Care and Personal Development, Tarot Readings
So, basically I have a confession to make. I am addicted to planners. There, I said it. I have probably purchased twenty or more planners in my life, none of which I have ever used. Oh, I get all excited for the first few days, maybe weeks, and put stuff down in it, but then it gets tossed aside like some lonely little toy, and is never seen again. Well, until I come across it a year or two later when I feel that familiar tug of, “I’m such a loser. I planned nothing.”
Well, this year is different. Different I tell you! Not only did I ACTUALLY find a planner that I LOVE and I actually USE, I took this great little five day freebie thing called the Planathon by Amber McCue, and it got me all hot and bothered about planning.
Then I started thinking. Since I am a tarot reader and it’s like, you know, my business, how could I use my beloved deck in helping me to plan for my life and business in 2015? Well, it turns out I totally can, and now I can share that with you!
WINNING!
So, what are some of the ways we can use tarot cards to plan our year ahead. Well, you can do a 12 months spread, for each month you place a card in position and use it as a forecast of the energetics of that month. For example: I just grabbed my deck and picked a card for January. This card captures the energetics of this upcoming up month for me, and I was very please to see this card:
What does this card mean for me in the immediate new year? Well, it means that I will be stepping into my calling, and that I will be experiencing a time of reflection and self evaluation. It also means that i will open myself out more fully to a completely new way of being in my life, and that I will be doing work that not only is personally fulfilling to me, but helps and inspires others along the way.
Pretty awesome little card for January!
Now I will repeat this for each month for the next twelve, and I am going to make note of each card and the meaning for me right in the margin of my planner. That way, I can use the cards and the energetics they carry as guideposts for 2015! These will not replace my daily card practice, those will be the up-to-date energy for that day, which can be affected by all sorts of things that can happen between now and then.
Why don’t you grab your fav deck and pull a card right now for January? Go ahead, I’ll wait.
So, did you? Share in the comments what your card was! If you know what this card means for you, let us know, and if you have no idea, that’s okay! We can offer up some interpretations for you.
The other way you can use tarot for preparing for 2015 is by using a New Years Spread. These are very popular, and they are a great way to shed the old and bring in the new.
One of my most favourite traditions in my family, is immediately after midnight on New Years Eve, we run upstairs and open the back door to say “Goodbye!” to the previous year, and then we run to the front door and say, “Welcome!” to the new year. It is actually quite emotional, as another year of our lives has gone by, and the new year coming is so full of promise and hope. And in the spirit of this tradition…
Here is a spread I created just for you! You can download it right here. The basics of this spread are to identify what you need to let go of for 2014, and also what you are most excited about for this upcoming year.
And if you do not want to do the spread for yourself, I am offering a 2015 Your Big Beautiful Year readings, and you can book them right here!
And as things are winding down for 2014, I invite you to use your tarot cards for some deep self reflection and personal development. It is such a powerful yet beautiful tool to dive deeply into your own life and feelings. One of the best resources for this type of work is a workbook called Tarot For Yourself by tarot matriarch Mary Greer.
And in case you missed it, I will be launching something very yummy in the new year myself! I am launching my very first ever online beginners tarot course called Dabbler to Diva, and if you would like to be invited to participate in this beta round of this class, not only will you get a steep discount, but you will also receive lifetime access to this training, as well as lifetime access to the private Facebook group! And as an added bonus, you will get a discount on level 2 when it rolls out sometime in fall of 2015!
Click on the image to sign up to be the first to be notified when registration goes LIVE for this course. It is going to fill up FAST, so don’t wait! You can also click here!
Have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends, and remember….
You are a work in progress, with endless possibilities!
PS. Are you diggin’ my spreads? Get a WHOLE collection of them FOR FREE! It’s called “Soulful Spreads for Inspired Living” and you will be Identifying your Calling, Finding your Muse, and much much more. Click here to get ’em!
by Lisa | Nov 17, 2014 | Self Care and Personal Development
Recently I have been noticing a trend in my community of amazing tarot peeps. There are certain cards that are repeatedly coming up for people right now. One of the cards that has been making itself known on a regular basis is this one:
Um…. HELLO! The Four of Swords is all about taking a rest. Like for realz. The kind of resting that’s not just putting your feet up on a Sunday afternoon. This is the kind of rest that is RESTORATIVE for your mind, body and spirit. This is the kind of message that is telling you to step out of the church of busy that our culture is so intent to worship at.
Seriously, people, get the hell out of the Church of Busy.
But what does this mean exactly? Well, it doesn’t surprise me that this card is coming up for people at this time of year. This is the time of year where we are gearing up for the holiday season, and usually the time of year when volunteering and fundraising for schools and organizations are hitting high gear. Everyone wants a piece of your attention and most importantly your energy. And for the love of Mike, you only have a certain amount to give!
We need permission to say “no” on a regular basis. If you are the type of person who has a hard time saying no, and believes that every time your child’s school or hockey club calls wanting you to join yet another committee, that you must say “yes”, then this post is for you.
Now listen up.. this is mama talking.
The thing is when we allow ourselves to get caught up in the church of busy, it makes us feel important. Or it can also mean we don’t have time to deal with our own personal deep shit. This is truth, and the truth hurts. But what you are telling your own soul and spirit when you’re “too busy” is, “I don’t have time for you. You are not a priority to me.” And guess what happens?
You get sick. You start to have injuries.
When the Four of Swords appears it doesn’t mean you are heading for burnout, it means you are already there. In fact, you have probably started to experience one of the more troubling effects of the church of busy… physical illness or injury.
If you are getting sick, you must must heed the call of the Four of Swords. You must retreat to a quiet place and reassess how you can step out of business today. Now. Start taking stuff off of your plate. Start saying no.
Chances are when you do, and are honest about the reason why, the people you say no to will reveal that, guess what? They have pulled into the burnout station too.
We all have.
And it’s time to take the next exit ramp to restful mindfulness. And that doesn’t mean taking up yoga, or a meditation class. Good lord. That would be adding another thing to do on your plate! Maybe in a couple of weeks, but the four of Swords is saying to cease and desist as much as you can right now.
Cease and desist. Not register and enrol!
Now this doesn’t mean that meditation and yoga are not what you need right now, far from it! You probably need more of those kinds of things. But only, and I mean only if it does not add to your “must do’s” but adds to your energy tank. And only you know if it will or if it won’t. How do you know for sure if a restorative activity is the prescription for your burnout? Well, we’ve talked about this before, thaaat’s right… listening to your body. Paying attention to how you feel when you look at your calendar and your appointment schedule.
Take a look at your calendar and begin to cross off things that are not absolutely essential to you or your family’s health, and household and direct work related events or appointments. For me, recently, it even meant rescheduling a lunch date with a friend. I know, right? A FRIEND! That’s relaxing right? Normally it is. But when you are in the burnout, even a lovely lunch with a friend, not the LUNCH itself, just the impending time of the lunch that will add to your overall stress. I’m not even kidding about this. It’s true. Now if a friend calls you spur of the moment, and says, “Lunch?” And you say, “Hellz YEAH!” And if you feel more refreshed and renewed after, then that is a whole other thing and totally go for it!
But, on the other hand, if you look at your calendar… like right now, go and have a look, I’ll wait.
How’d you do? Anything make you feel like…”I just can’t.” Why not consider striking it and rescheduling when your energy tank is more full? A full tank means less stress and more ability to cope with your life and the challenges it brings. It means living more fully into the juiciness that is YOUR life. Something we all deserve. You too!
If you are worshipping at the church of busy, and if this post resonates with you at all, share in the comments what things you are going to begin to rearrange to honour taking care of your BIG THREE.. .mind, body AND spirit this week, and share in the comments. I would love to hear from you!
